Floridians failed to protect abortion rights despite a majority vote. Here’s why.
Abortion rights were on the ballot in several states during the 2024 US Presidential Election, and Florida has now infamously failed to enshrine reproductive freedoms in the state’s constitution, despite garnering a voter approval rate of well over 50 percent.
Amidst the devastation, both Florida natives and voters across the States have rightly questioned the fairness of the results, which fell just shy of the required percentage. Exceeding the 50-percent mark is all it takes to pass an amendment in most states, so what makes Florida any different?
In the wake of the election, many are learning of a previous amendment that passed in 2006, which would require a 60-percent approval rate for future constitutional amendments to pass in the state. Needless to say, this posed a major hurdle for Floridians to overcome in the fight to keep abortions safe and legal, and one that other states have failed to conquer as well.
Ballotpedia’s Ryan Byrne noted recent proposals that passed in Michigan and Ohio only managed to earn 57 percent approval — which is exactly where Florida’s vote fell in favor of Amendment 4, ironically enough. The state’s required threshold of 60 percent has since been called “unjust” and “undemocratic” in the aftermath of the election, but that’s not all that tripped up voters at the polls this year.
Unclear ballot measures confused average Florida voters
As a Florida voter myself, I requested a mail-in ballot over a month in advance, hoping to buy myself some time to research candidates and ballot measures before casting my vote. Even so, I went in knowing I’d vote to protect abortion rights. Amendment 4 denoted such protections, but the wording itself was ambiguous at best and downright confusing to the average voter.
To make matters worse, a disclaimer also followed the amendment on the physical ballot, citing that an increase in abortions would negatively affect fertility rates. No such mention was made of an increase to maternal mortality rates with lack of abortion access. Biased much?
No law shall penalize, prohibit, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider. This amendment does not change the Legislature’s constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.
Florida Division of Elections
Now, I majored in English and I am, of course, a writer by trade, but they kind of lost me after, “No law shall penalize, prohibit, delay, or restrict abortion,” full-stop. If I’d gone to the polls in person, I’d most certainly have kept the line waiting. And I wasn’t alone. My best friend joked that her brother had called her in a panic while filling out his own ballot at home, afraid that he might misunderstand the amendment’s wording and vote against reproductive rights on accident. Like many adult experiences, voting responsibly shouldn’t be so hard or scary, but it is. And it has real and devastating consequences.
Following the collapse of Roe v. Wade in 2022, Florida implemented a strict six-week abortion ban, down from a previous ban at 15 weeks. The six-week ban will remain in effect now that Amendment 4’s protection under the state constitution has been shot down. Although current restrictions do allow exceptions for rape, incest, human trafficking, and fatal fetal abnormalities and promise to protect the pregnant person under life-threatening conditions, we’ve seen just how hesitant many doctors are to intervene before it’s too late.
Lack of abortion care has resulted in several preventable deaths across the US in the wake of similar bans and countless more throughout history. Despite the efforts of Floridians to avoid repeating history, we remain about 50 years in the past, and it’s unclear how long we’re bound to stay there following Kamala Harris’ concession in the face of Donald Trump’s heartbreaking re-election.
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